Your guide to year-end gifts

It’s shaping up to be another wonderful year-end season of generosity. While we encourage you to be proactive and stay ahead of the rush, the NCF Michigan team will be here ready to assist you through the end of the year. Please contact our team at michigan@ncfgiving.comopens in a new tab or 616.957.4372 with questions.

Forms Office hours Deadlines Determining the date of your gift

Office hours

Our team will be onsite in our Ada office to serve you weekdays from 8 AM - 4:30 PM at this address:

National Christian Foundation Michigan
4670 Fulton St E Ste 204
Ada, MI 49301 (get directionsopens in a new tab)

Our office will be closed the following dates:

Thursday, November 26 - Thanksgiving Day
Friday, November 27 - Day after Thanksgiving
Thursday, December 24 - Christmas Eve
Friday, December 25 - Christmas Day
Friday, January 1 - New Year’s Day

You may reach our NCF Michigan team using these direct lines:

Email michigan@ncfgiving.comopens in a new tab
Call 616.957.4372
Fax 616.957.4378

Suggested 2026 year-end giving deadlines

Nov. 27 - Real estate gifts
- Any real estate gifts requiring a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment should be initiated with NCF by this date.
Dec. 1 - Proprietary mutual funds and transfer agents
- All proprietary mutual fund transfers and securities through a transfer agent should be initiated by this date.
Dec. 4 - New separately managed accounts (SMAs)
- Any new SMAs (NCF fund assets that are separately managed by an advisor) should be set up by this date.
Dec. 11 - Complex gifts
- To ensure your complex gift can be completed by December 31, your asset donation form and all required documents should be received by December 11. Due to the high volume of complex gifts at the end of the year, we encourage you to submit your documents as soon as possible. We can accept your gift as early as today with an effective date of December 31, 2026. Contact your local NCF team for forms or more details.
Dec. 14 - Grants to charities
- Grant requests to approved charities should be submitted by this date if you would like a check sent by the end of the year. Grants do not have to be issued by year end for tax purposes.
Dec. 14 - Publicly traded securities or E-checks
- All stock and mutual fund transfers should be initiated with the transferring broker by this date. E-checks also need to be initiated by this date. A physical check or a wire transfer should be considered instead of an E-check beginning December 15 or later. (NCF must receive the gift by December 31 to count toward the 2026 tax year.)
Dec. 31 - Cash gifts
- Physical checks must be postmarked by USPS no later than December 31. Cash and wire transfers must also be received in NCF’s bank account by this date.
Dec. 31 - Charitable gift annuities (CGAs)
- Applications for CGAs, along with physical checks, must be dated and postmarked by USPS no later than December 31, and you must have previously received a CGA illustration with the terms on which the CGA agreement will be based.
Dec. 31 - IRAs
- If you’d like to make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from your IRA to a Designated Fund or Single-Charity Fund, submit a QCD request to your IRA custodian.* The check or electronic transfer should be made payable to National Christian Foundation and sent directly to NCF, allowing sufficient time for NCF to receive and acknowledge the distribution by December 31.
- *Note, a distribution from your IRA to a Giving Fund will not qualify as a QCD but may qualify as a regular charitable gift.
Dec. 31 - Physical stock certificates
- If you hold physical stock certificates, please visit ncfgiving.com/forms for information on the most effective ways to gift these securities.

Determining the date of your gift

Checks

If sent via FedEx, then the date of the gift is determined by the date NCF receives the check.
If sent via USPS, then the date of the gift is determined by the postmark date. If you are close to the year-end deadline, we recommend going to your post office to get a legible 2026 postmark and saving a picture of the envelope before mailing.
Checks can also be dropped off at our office weekdays between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM. Checks should be made out to National Christian Foundation and include your fund name or number in the memo line. Our office is located at 4670 Fulton St E Ste 204, Ada, MI 49301.

Stocks and mutual funds

The date of the gift is determined by the date NCF receives the shares in our brokerage account. Share a notice of your gift (letter of intent) with michigan@ncfgiving.comopens in a new tab.

Stocks and mutual funds held at a transfer agent

The date of the gift is determined by the date the transfer agent transfers the registration of the shares to NCF. This is usually a week to two weeks after NCF fills out its portion of the paperwork and forwards to the transfer agent.

Wire

The date of the gift is determined by the date NCF receives the wire at our bank.

E-checks

The date of the gift is determined by the date NCF receives the gift. Please note there is a risk of your bank denying the transaction at a later date for minor inconsistencies. We recommend using e-checks close to year-end only if you’ve recently had successful recurring e-check gifts to NCF.

We’re ready to help

Still have questions? Reach out to our team at 616.957.4372 or michigan@ncfgiving.comopens in a new tab for personalized assistance with year-end charitable giving. Thank you for answering the call to live generously!